


What Kind of Man

by Imworth5dollars



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Bisexual Evan "Buck" Buckley, F/M, Original Character Death(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Protective Evan "Buck" Buckley, Smart!Buck, chimney is an ass, paramedic buck, smart buck
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-01
Updated: 2021-02-02
Packaged: 2021-03-03 04:41:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,028
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24465133
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Imworth5dollars/pseuds/Imworth5dollars
Summary: When Buck loses a patient a blast from his past shows up and changes everything.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Original Character(s)
Comments: 5
Kudos: 84





	1. The College Not the Country

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first ever posted fic, please be kind.  
> No Beta

It had been a long week at the 118, for Buck especially. He had recently certified as a paramedic having been an EMT since he was 20. They had lost more patients as of late than they had in months. It had nothing to do with his abilities, most callers were gone before they were even able to get there.

Today was especially hard. They had a wellness check called for a woman with heart attack symptoms but when they got there she had already coded, Buck managed to get her back twice but the ER doc called it before they even got her out of the ambulance bay. He couldn’t figure out why but the woman, Margaret had seemed so familiar. 

He just wanted to go home and drown out his sorrows in a 6 pack and sleep, however Eddie had other plans. Chris was hosting a sleepover with more kids than they had before and Eddie dragged Buck over as his sidekick. Thankfully hanging out with his favorite kid and all his friends was just what Buck needed to get his mind off of Margaret and everything else. 

When he finally got home Sunday night he was relieved to be able to use his own shower and wear what he wanted. Uncommon for him nowadays he threw on an old pair of track shorts and his oversized Columbia Engineering hoodie. Buck made himself a smoothie, he preferred to eat vegan at home but wasn’t going to push it around his team at work.

He was thankful the next few nights were peaceful and he was actually able to get some good sleep. He was also beyond thankful for his Monday morning appointment with Frank, his crew had no idea that he still went willingly but barring a few years between college and joining the LAFD he’d been in therapy since he was a kid. First due to his parents divorce and then again after witnessing a brutal murder in NYC, the first call he hadn’t been able to save. His fire captain requested it so he went and didn’t stop. Therapy was helpful, that is when your therapist wasn’t a rapist like his first department mandated one in LA.

Come Wednesday morning he was back at work and their few calls had gone much better no fatalities just a small few injuries at a car accident. Buck prayed it would actually be a good shift. They were back in the station, most people working on the trucks and cleaning but he was assisting Bobby with lunch and dinner prep.

Kyla had had the hardest 4 days of her life. Her mother died of a sudden heart attack on Friday no matter all of the effort the medics put in to save her. It shocked her family as there was no history of heart disease and her mother had been fairly healthy. She was living in the center of the state with her off-again girlfriend/on-again best friend. Living her best life and kicking ass at her dream job. Suddenly she was in LA trying to plan a funeral and she had no idea how exactly to do that. 

Her uncle wasn't able to get into town for over 24 hours and it had taken her dad another two to get back from Japan. Neither man could stand the other. Uncle hated her dad for leaving them when Kyla was a kid and her dad couldn’t stand Owen for being holier than thou. Last Kyla knew her parents were actually considering getting back together. But she didn’t want to be stuck in the middle.

She was desperate to get out of the house and out of the pissing contest her Dad and Uncle were having with each other, so she did what Owen had taught her in his 30+ years as a firefighter and picked up a gift basket to bring to the first responders who had attempted to save her mom. It was the same thing her, Owen, and TK did for the paramedics who responded to her grandparents' fatal car accident.

Kyla chose the largest gift basket she could find and made sure to get it filled with only sealed goods. She didn't want to spend all that money just for them to throw it away. Her only problem was the LA traffic, her mom had lived downtown but they were staying at her grandparents' former home right outside of Santa Monica. One that thankfully hadn't been destroyed in the tsunami. It took her over an hour to get from the store to station 118. She didn’t know many details just that it was this house that had responded, that was all her uncle had been able to get out of one of his friends.

She walked in the bay, the doors were open as it was a nice 75° day and asked the first person she saw who she could give it to.

“Hey guys look at this!” a man who introduced himself as Chimney yelled. Bobby motioned for Buck to go down while he kept an eye on the food.

“To what do we owe this massive honor?” Hen asked the girl, taking the basket from her. 

“My uncle always taught me that if first responders are involved you thank them.”

“I don't think we remember you sorry, when did we help out?” Chim asked

Buck had finished cleaning himself up and was heading to the group when he realized who the tall brunette standing in the bay was.

“It wasn't actually me you guys attempted to help, it was my mother, Margaret, this past Friday, heartbreakingly she was DOA but I can’t fault anyone for that” Kyla responded.

Chimney and Hen looked solemnly at each other and then to Buck, who had a look of shock plastered on his face. They knew Buck was having a hard time getting over that particular loss. He stepped closer to Kyla looking like he was going to cry.

“Kyla?”

“Evan? You moved to LA?” she replied

“A few years ago yeah, your mother, god I’m so sorry Ky, I didnt realize she was your mom, I tried everything to save her. I'm so sorry.”

“Things happen Ev, it’s okay, I’m just thankful someone tried. Wait, you’ve been a firefighter in LA for a few years? The 252 would be so disappointed in you.”

“Last I heard O and TK left NY though?”

“Wait I’m sorry..” Chimney interrupted “how do you guys know each other? And why is she allowed to call you Evan. Oh and who is the 252”

Kyla started laughing. She gave Buck a curious glance and he shrugged in reply “He was my cousin TKs roommate in undergrad, but we really became friends when I went to Columbia. I can call him Evan because I've known him for years, long before he went by Buck.” She explained to the group. “Oh shit you fucked off to South America for a while right? Columbia the university not Columbia the country.” she clarified. 

“Buck you went to college?” Chim interjected kind of rudely.

“You never told them?” Kyla asked Buck. Buck looked down at his feet beyond embarrassed.

“They never asked, they kind of always assumed I was too dumb to have gone anywhere. They tend to act surprised that I even graduated high school.” He replied. Hen looked upset with herself and Eddie had his back straight and his face fuming.

“He graduated magna cum laude from Columbia. Which he got a full academic ride to after being valedictorian of his high school. He also went back for a masters that he kicked ass in too. Why, did you not go to college? You seem a little overly surprised that others did.” she snapped toward Chimney. 

In trying to defuse the tension between the two Buck spoke “Okay so if we're airing all of the things I’ve never shared with the group, I moved to NYC at 18 for college. I Have 3 degrees from Columbia University, it took me 5 years to finish my bachelors, plural, in Spanish and Civil Engineering because I was working full time as an EMT with FDNY station 252, where I met my close friend TK, and soon after Kyla here.” he paused to take a breath and gauge their reactions, Eddie looked proud, Hen and Chim both very shocked and Kyla he noticed was holding his arm and had a smile plastered across her face, he continued. “I got my masters in Civil Engineering, but then decided I needed to find myself and moved to Mexico for a year. I came back up to the states for SEAL training, but when they found out that I’m bisexual it didn’t go over to well, which is how I ended up in LA, didn’t want to end up in the shadows at the 252 having been just an EMT there so I decided to go somewhere I could just be a badass firefighter.”

Kyla went to pull Buck away for a minute, but her phone started ringing and she let go of Evan’s arm. It was Owen calling. “Hey Ev, I have to go, TK and ‘Los just got here and I need to pick them up, cause you know make me sit in LA traffic for another 3 hours, sure why not. But hey you still have the same number right? We should all go to dinner tomorrow, get everyone’s mind off the funeral and stuff. Nour will be in town, and my dad is too, you know how fun that will be, you should come, It’ll be vegan I promise.” He nodded yes in reply and gave her a tight hug. She kissed him on the cheek and walked out. 

He couldn’t help but blush and touch his cheek. It had been awhile since he’d seen Kyla but she always knew how to get a reaction out of him. He was actually really excited for the next night's dinner even though the circumstance was unfortunate.

His teammates all stood around him still staring at him in disbelief. He was convinced what they had shared broke Chimney's brain. That’s what he got though for always insinuating that Buck was dumb, and the rest of them for never asking about those parts of his past. He wouldn't share his childhood other than things here and there with Maddie but he never intended to hide his life in New York, or his sexuality.

“Buck I want all the details” Eddie said as the others dispersed. “How come you’ve never mentioned her? She seems to have been a big part of your life, or something more at some point.”

“Honestly I haven’t seen her in years, we only went to grad school together, I mean she spent summers in the city in undergrad and stayed at me and Ty’s place but he was kind of a mess then, and she had a girlfriend back here when she lived with us in grad school. The girl Nour, they’ve been together for years. So no, I’ve never mentioned her because there’s nothing to tell, nothing happened between us. And besides, there’s plenty of stuff from back in those days of your own you’ve kept to yourself.” 

Eddie nodded in understanding. “Well man we have 18 hours left of this shift so you have time to fill me in on all of the college stories, and I can tell you my non-war stories.” Realizing that no, he hadn't actually shared those parts of his life either.

Buck clapped his best friend on the back and smiled. “Sounds good to me man”

The alarm rang.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Title from the song What Kind of Man by Florence + the Machine 
> 
> This was not the Kyla I had in mind when I created her, she was a totally different character for a 911 Lone Star story I was working on but I got writers block and this plot bunny came to me on a run so I went with it with her.


	2. This isn’t goodbye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Rewrite in progress

Hey y’all, so I love this fic and I have a lot ideas about how it’s going to go, but I feel like I rushed it too much so I’m going to be pulling this version down and reposting the rewritten first chapter (as well as the continuations) under the name She Lit a Fire. The first chapter should be up this week, as well as the second. Thanks so much to everyone who read this first chapter. Ilysm


End file.
